We started our vacation this morning, taking the family to Emerald Isle, NC for three days of beach. We hadn’t planned ahead for a longer trip, nor did I have the vacation time saved up to take a longer vacation. It’s a shame, really, because though I rarely take it I really like knowing it’s there. But I digress.
We arrived at my friend Shane’s beachhouse, Rancho Relaxo, around noon, under overcast skies and with a gentle breeze blowing. After stopping off at the Lowe’s Foods to pick up some groceries (and stopping at Quizno’s to get some lunch) we showed up at the beautiful Rancho.
Once settled, we walked to the beach and promptly stayed there for a few hours, with the kids enjoying the surf. We returned to the rancho to get cleaned up and watch a Mythbusters on streaming NetFlix. We returned to the beach to go for a walk. Soon we noticed how late it had gotten, so we returned again so I could cook up some chili for dinner. We enjoyed our meal on the balcony with the Atlantic Ocean a few hundred yards to our east and a nearly full moon rising over the water.
The kids have been in bed for a while now and I’ve been overcoming some network obstacles for fun while Kelly has been reading. Tomorrow we take a ferry to Shackeford Banks after spending a little time wandering around Beaufort. I’d been to Beaufort for the Pepsi’s America’s Challenge sailing race but it will be the first time for Kelly and the kids. I think they’ll like it as much as I did.